I love the classic sound of the 70's era Hammond B3 with Leslie cabinet sound. What do you recommend (short of actually buying the organ and cabinet) 😊

GSi's VB3, without any reservation.

Sanderxpander
GSi's VB3, without any reservation.

Yep.

 for rotary 'speaker" MrDonald  free vst
 
here is a link for it
 
https://www.kvraudio.com/product/mrdonald_by_gsi
 
cheer
martin

I am a fan of the GSi VB3 too.
 
What version of SONAR? You may have some options already installed.
 
The new DSF - B3 Tone Wheel Organ loads into Rapture Session/Pro.
 
 

Sanderxpander
GSi's VB3, without any reservation.

My recommendation too.

If you don't want the entire virtual instrument but just a really good rotating speaker plug-in, try PSP's L'otary. You can download a 14-day fully functional version. I reviewed it for Harmony Central. The main thing I like about it is that it does all the conventional effects, but you can also "push the parameters" and there are miking options, good distortion, etc.

There's a new kid on the block that many say sounds more realistic than VB-3.
GG AUDIO's Blue3.

The VB-3 was my go-to hammond organ, before that it was Native Instruments B4-II
I have many other Hammond emulators, all offer slightly different sounds.

My one gripe about Blue3 is that it doesn't have a very loud bottom end (which I'm told is realistic and being true to a real Hammond B3.)   But when I do a gliss (a hand-slide up the keyboard), the VB-3 really comes through, with a loud booming, grumbling bottom end bass sound, that makes the gliss stand out and cut through the other instruments.

But other than that the Blue3, is much more bright sounding, and the mid and high keys cut through the other instruments.  Some say a few of the presets sound a bit too "synthy", but there are a lot more controls and fine tuning available, along with different tonewheel sets and a choice of speakers. The Blue3 also has a better Leslie speaker sound.

You can download the Blue3 demo at:

http://www.gg-audio.com/

I also wrote this review on all the Hammond B3 emulators on my DAW.  There's also several discussions going on at KVR audio, where I originally posted this review.   Search KVR audio forums for "GG Audio Blue3", and you'll read some great, insightful reviews on Blue3, as well as other Hammond B3 emulators:

Here's a link to my Cakewalk Software forum review on Hammond emulators:
http://forum.cakewalk.com...s-Review-m3638726.aspx

Agreed, the GSi VB3 is a solid choice.
 
I also like the AIR DB-33 (purchased from Audio Deluxe for just $16.99 during a sale). I've used it on a couple and tracks and it sounds great. The rotary-speaker cabinet can also be used as an effect in its own right on an audio track.
 
Both of these titles are available to download as demo versions.